Relational Alchemy Psychology Services

No matter where you have been, evidence-based therapies are flexible, valuable, and focus on changing now.

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Individual Services

Life Transitions / Stress / PTSD / Anxiety / Depression / Purpose / Satisfaction / Connection / Well-Being

Individual psychotherapy helps clients deal with particular issues, symptoms, and stressors. We can’t avoid negative emotions like sadness, fear, worthlessness, and worry. Eventually, they catch up with us. We can't avoid having thoughts and looking for meaning behind what we do and experience. We are human. As with all emotions, occasional sadness and anxiety are normal life experiences.

However, when mood and anxiety issues interfere with our ability to enjoy life, or get in the way of our goals, it is time to seek help. My integrative approach is informed by current findings in the fields of psychology and neuroscience, allowing me to provide you with the most up-to-date, informed, and effective care. My expertise is in time-limited, evidence-based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies (CBT) and the Unified Protocol for emotional disorders. Similarly, third-wave CBT (like Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Mindfulness-based interventions) focuses on behavioral processes like developing healthy ways to cope with stress, emotions, and complicated relationships.

My approach is compassionate, genuine, and goal-driven—creating a safe, nonjudgmental space where you feel fully supported. Therapy with me is active and sometimes challenging. Together we create a collaborative process of transformation. I lean into, listen, understand, and enhance authentic expression. Together, we’ll work to reduce anxiety, step beyond your comfort zone, and make meaningful, lasting changes. What that means and what that looks like is different for everyone...

  • Do you feel comfortable with your personal boundaries? Do you feel overwhelmed yet have trouble sleeping?

    I work with both adults and adolescents on an individual basis. My specialized expertise includes working with the LGBTQIA+ community, creatives, high-stress professionals, and survivors of sexual assault—areas that often overlap. I help clients navigate difficult topics that are often hard to talk about, and interfere with being their most effective, authentic selves. Together, we uncover limiting stories, narratives, and beliefs that no longer serve you.

    I have expertise in evidence-based psychotherapies for a range of individual mental health concerns including PTSD, anxiety, and depression. I have extensive training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), the gold-standard treatment approach for anxiety and depression. I also have extensive specialized training in the Unified Protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders and CBT-informed trauma-focused treatments. In therapy, we explore thoughts, beliefs, and understanding, while also prioritizing behavioral processes that focus on your contexts and the functions of how you relate to your internal experiences. CBT is designed to help clients notice and shift their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in order to get relief from painful emotions such as anxiety and sadness.

    Third-wave CBT (like Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and mindfulness-based interventions) focuses on behavioral processes like developing healthy ways to cope with stress, emotions, and complicated relationships. Mindfulness interventions promote the profound experience of living in the present moment with your thoughts and feelings-- authentically, and nonjudgmentally. These interventions support well-being through developing coping skills, personal values, and metacognition that complement traditional CBT interventions. We explore the sources, experiences, and beliefs that impact how you relate with the world and implement change in your life.

    Sometimes our bodies tell the story before our thoughts can. Do you feel restlessness in your body, even when your mind is tired? Or perhaps you notice a lingering tightness in your muscles or a constant state of alert that doesn’t seem to fade? These physical cues are part of the emotional landscape, not separate from it. In our work together, we’ll slow down enough to notice what your body is holding, what it’s asking for, and how we can respond with care instead of pushing through.

    Trauma isn’t just stored in memories—it can reside in our bodies as persistent tension, tightness, or numbness. It's not uncommon for traumatic experiences to manifest as subtle, ongoing signals: a knot in your shoulder, a sinking feeling in your chest, or a constant sense of unease. In our work together, we won’t just focus on the thoughts or events of your past; we’ll also pay attention to your body’s own language. By noticing these embodied responses, you may find that understanding and addressing them provides a path toward healing not only emotional wounds but also the physical imprints of trauma. Somatic awareness doesn’t mean you have to be an expert in your nervous system — just curious about what your body is trying to say.

  • How have you been influenced by your environment and experiences? What is your narrative?

    Psychotherapy is often also helpful for clients who do not necessarily have a diagnosable mental health condition but are seeking to discuss relationship concerns, life transitions, burnout, stigma, work-life balance, or ways to better manage stress. My style is pragmatic, strength-based, non-pathologizing, and active. I am not a therapist who asks you how the week has been and sends you on your way.

    How can we support change and growth for you right now? Do darker thoughts send you spiraling? Do you need closure? What *is* "closure"?

    My role begins with understanding your inner world with authentic curiosity, and an open minded fearlessness that promotes a new type of relational interaction. As a therapist, I have a focus on therapeutic intentionality while remaining warm and non-judgemental. I won't flinch at curse words or feel compelled to fill a powerful silence. I can keep up with a dark sense of humor, and appreciate the healing power of laughter. I bring an instinctive awareness that each of us has an inner world that can be at odds with the external one we live in. I help clients to understand themselves and their relationships with more clarity. Ultimately, I aim to provide efficient relief from distress, and to teach clients to “become their own therapist.”

    Expertise: Working with Creatives: Burnout, Success, Motivation, Inspiration

    Expertise: Working with High-Stress Career Professionals

    Therapy with me is both insight-driven and action-oriented. We’ll explore the origins of your patterns, yes — but we’ll also get practical. How are these dynamics playing out in your relationships, your calendar, your body? How can we create enough internal safety for you to try something different? Therapy doesn’t have to be vague, or endless, or impersonal. It can be real, focused, and transformative. It can help you feel like you again — or maybe for the first time.

    Whether you’re in a high-pressure career, in the midst of a creative dry spell, or simply trying to find your way back to yourself after a hard season, I bring focused, evidence-based support to help you return to clarity, meaning, and movement. This work is for anyone tired of white-knuckling through the day — anyone who’s ready to stop surviving and start living with intention again.

    Are you still having trouble adjusting to a life transition that has you feeling overwhelmed or stressed out?


    I am licensed in both New York and California, allowing me to support bi-coastal clients. I also offer coaching modalities world wide -- for relationships and individuals.

    In Los Angeles, I also offer concierge services for clients. I also offer Walk & Talk therapy in Beverly Hills and Hollywood.

Consider individual therapy for many reasons, including:


  • Manage Overwhelming Emotions – Get grounded in the face of anxiety, depression, anger, guilt, or burnout.
  • Reignite Motivation – Break through inertia and reconnect with purpose, energy, and routine.
  • Practice Self-Compassion – Quiet your inner critic and treat yourself with kindness, not judgment.
  • Live More Authentically – Show up as your whole self—less filtered, more fulfilled.
  • Strengthen Relationships – Deepen your capacity for connection, communication, and vulnerability.
  • Speak Up for Yourself – Learn assertiveness, navigate conflict, and express your needs clearly.
  • Clarify and Reach Goals – Cut through self-doubt, define what matters, and take actionable steps.
  • Rediscover Joy and Meaning – Reconnect with creativity, play, purpose, and what lights you up.
  • Find Belonging – Build meaningful friendships and the community support you deserve.
  • Navigate Life Transitions – Process breakups, toxic dynamics, job changes, loss, or tough decisions.
  • Heal from Trauma – Restore your sense of safety, agency, and vitality—whether from a single event or lifelong pain.
  • Build Resilience – Explore your inner strength and how hardship shaped your courage and endurance.
  • Connect with Your Identity and Values – Explore who you are, what matters to you, and how to live with greater integrity and alignment—especially in the face of systemic pressures or identity-based stress.
  • Trust Yourself Again – Reclaim your confidence, instincts, and belief in your own voice and choices.
  • Set Boundaries That Hold – Learn how to say no, honor your needs, and create emotional safety.
  • Release Perfectionism – Let go of unrealistic standards and make space for rest, creativity, and growth.
  • Feel More Present – Reduce mental noise, increase mindfulness, and create space for inner peace.
  • Break Unhelpful Patterns – Identify recurring behaviors or relationship cycles that no longer serve you.
  • Process Identity Shifts – Navigate changes in how you see yourself—personally, professionally, or relationally.
  • Support Neurodivergent Needs – Understand how your brain works and build strategies that honor your wiring.
  • Work Through Grief and Loss – Hold space for mourning, memory, and meaning after loss or major life change.
  • Cope with Burnout – Recover from emotional exhaustion and redefine what sustainable success looks like.
  • Explore Sexual Wellness – Address concerns around intimacy, desire, consent, and sexual identity in a safe space.
  • Reduce Shame – Untangle internalized messages that limit your sense of worth, joy, or self-acceptance.
  • Foster Creative Flow – Unblock artistic energy, overcome fear of failure, and reconnect with creative purpose.
  • Reconnect with Your Body – Heal body-mind disconnect, build somatic awareness, and feel more grounded.
  • Create a Life That Fits – Stop living on autopilot and build a life that reflects your values and vision.
  • Undo Internalized Oppression – Challenge harmful beliefs shaped by racism, sexism, fatphobia, ableism, and more.
  • Hold Space for Hope – Rebuild a sense of possibility when the future feels unclear or overwhelming.
  • Repair Relationship Patterns – Understand recurring dynamics, attachment styles, and improve emotional safety, and build healthier ways of connecting with others.

Find purpose, satisfaction, connection and ease in every day.

I offer a time-limited, focused approach to therapy—typically 12–24 sessions—grounded in the latest research. Contemporary research on major emotional disorders emphasizes their commonalities rather than their differences. This research supports a unified, transdiagnostic method that addresses the common threads across anxiety, depression, and related challenges.

My approach is flexible and personalized, adapting to each client’s unique needs, symptoms, and goals. Together, we’ll identify practical tools and insights to support long-lasting change, strengthen your confidence and resilience, and help you face what’s next with clarity and purpose. I also recognize the broader systems and cultural forces that impact your well-being, and I’m here to support both personal growth and a deeper understanding of those external influences. You deserve joy, agency, and belonging—even when the world suggests otherwise.

Exploring Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation -- Or not...

I bring over a decade of specialized experience working with gender, sexuality, and identity in therapy. For some clients, exploring these aspects is central to their healing and growth. For others, being part of the LGBTQIA+ community is simply one part of who they are—not the focus of treatment. Either way, your identity will be respected, understood, and never treated as a barrier to care.

As a culturally competent clinician, I offer a shared understanding of language, community, and lived experience. Whether you're seeking support around identity, relationships, anxiety, trauma, or creative and professional goals, our work will be collaborative and tailored to you. I follow a patient-led approach to treatment—your goals shape the direction of therapy, and I provide the tools, insight, and expertise to help you reach them. I also offer a wide range of resources to support clients navigating gender and sexual minority-related experiences.

Therapeutic Approach


    Here are some additional values and approaches I bring to my affirming therapy.

    Increasing Complexity


    🧩 As humans, our nervous systems are wired to keep us safe—constantly scanning for signs of danger, even before we’re consciously aware of it. This quick, automatic response can leave us feeling guarded, especially in relationships and unfamiliar or vulnerable situations. When we’ve been through trauma or difficult relationships, it makes sense that our minds might default to rigid thinking—seeing things as good or bad, right or wrong—as a way to protect ourselves.

    But the world is rarely that simple. In today’s polarized climate, it’s easy to fall into black-and-white thinking, which can shut down our empathy and reduce our ability to truly connect with others. The truth is, most of life happens in the grey areas.

    In therapy, we help you build your capacity to sit with that complexity 🌀 —to hold space for both/and instead of either/or. This means increasing your ability to navigate nuance in your emotions, relationships, and identity with more confidence, flexibility, and self-compassion.

    The more we can hold complexity, the more we open ourselves to empathy, curiosity, intimacy, and shared humanity. It’s not just about feeling better—it’s about growing deeper, more meaningful relationships and cultivating a more compassionate and nuanced world.


    ☁️ Practicing Radical Nonjudgment


    In this space, you don’t have to perform, prove, or explain why something matters to you. All parts of you—messy, brilliant, raw, contradictory—are welcome here. That includes the parts you’ve hidden, felt shame about, or feared might be "too much" for others to hold. We won’t rush to label or fix. Instead, we slow down and make space for what’s real.

    Radical nonjudgment isn’t passivity—it’s a practice. At its heart, it’s a foundational element of mindfulness: noticing what arises in your body or mind without immediately evaluating it as “good” or “bad.” That means not just suspending judgment of others—but also of yourself. Your feelings, thoughts, impulses, and reactions don’t need to be corrected as they emerge. They need to be heard. It means staying open to your full experience without collapsing into shame or bypassing it with silver linings.

    This kind of compassionate awareness is especially powerful for creatives and those in marginalized communities, who often internalize judgment from the outside world. By learning to witness your experience without harsh self-criticism, you open the door to deeper healing, clarity, and freedom in how you show up in your art and your life.

    Here, you don’t have to earn acceptance. You get to start from it.


    🧭 Values-Driven & Client-Centered


    Your values are the compass, and therapy is the space where you get to tune in to what truly matters—beneath the noise of expectation, performance, or survival. I don’t approach your life with a fixed map of what should happen. Instead, I help you clarify your own priorities, vision, and truth—even (and especially) if those things have been buried under burnout, anxiety, or other people’s projections.

    Our work is collaborative and flexible. I trust your instincts. I respect your pacing. And I believe you are the expert of your own experience. My role is to listen deeply, reflect what I see, and offer tools and insight that support you in living with greater alignment, freedom, and integrity. 🌈


    Embracing Embodiment


    🧠 + 🧘 Therapy is not just a mental process—it’s physical, too. Emotions are experienced in the body, and healing often involves noticing where those emotions live, and gently working through them. In a culture that prioritizes logic over feeling, we help you reconnect to the wisdom of your body. Using moment-to-moment awareness, we explore your physical sensations, breath, posture, and energy to uncover stuck emotions, restore a sense of agency, and support emotional regulation. Embodied healing and somatic interventions allow you to move through pain, not just talk about it.


    Aligning with Authenticity


    🎭 + 🪞Authenticity is about identity. It’s the ongoing process of aligning your inner truth with your outer life, so you can feel fully yourself rather than fractured or hidden. It is essential to mental health. When you're constantly curating, performing, or concealing parts of yourself—whether to meet public expectations, industry demands, or to protect your image—it creates a split between who you are and who you feel allowed to be. Over time, that disconnection can lead to anxiety, depression, burnout, or a deep sense of emptiness. Mental health thrives when we can integrate all parts of ourselves—our vulnerabilities, complexities, and contradictions—with compassion and honesty. You deserve a space where you don’t have to perform. In therapy, we’ll work toward helping you feel safe enough to show up fully, without the pressure to edit yourself. Because being real—being whole—isn’t just freeing, it’s healing.


    Deepening Self-Awareness & Insight


    👁️ + 🔍 Therapy is not just about symptom relief—it's about curiosity. Together, we explore your inner world with depth and nuance, helping you recognize patterns that may be so familiar they’ve become invisible. The aim isn’t just to “understand” in an intellectual sense, but to feel the truth of your experience in a way that allows for clarity, compassion, and change. Whether you're navigating the complexities of fame, family, desire, or creative drive, we work to bring unconscious dynamics into the light—so you can respond rather than react, and make choices rooted in self-knowledge rather than habit or fear.

    Insight isn’t where we stop—it’s where real transformation begins.


    🤝 Building Meaningful Connection & Support


    Healing doesn’t happen in isolation—it happens in connection. Whether you're used to being the one who “has it all together” or you're someone who’s always walked the edge alone, therapy can be a rare space where you're invited to be fully seen, supported, and understood—without judgment or agenda.

    Our work together centers not just on solving problems, but on building relationships: with yourself, with others, and within the therapeutic space. If you're a creative, your work might already explore deep human truths—but this is your space to experience them firsthand. We explore what intimacy, safety, and trust mean to you, especially if those things have felt inconsistent or painful in the past.

    And support doesn’t just mean comfort—it means challenge, too. We grow stronger in connection by practicing vulnerability, learning how to communicate with clarity and compassion, and letting ourselves be impacted by others. Together, we’ll create a relationship that models what supportive, authentic connection can feel like—so you can take that out into the world with more confidence and care.

    You don’t have to go it alone. Support is part of the art.


    Embracing Growth & Transformation


    🌿 + 🌊 Transformation isn’t always graceful—it’s often uncomfortable, nonlinear, and emotionally intense. In therapy, we honor the complexity of personal evolution: the grief that comes with letting go, the fear of stepping into the unknown, and the courage it takes to grow anyway. We don’t rush the process or avoid the dark corners—we explore them together. Growth is not just about feeling better; it’s about becoming more whole. This work can be messy and vulnerable, but it can also be deeply clarifying, freeing, and meaningful.


    Play! & Imagination


    💭 + 🤸 Growth doesn’t always have to be heavy. In fact, playfulness, humor, and creativity are essential tools for healing and resilience. We also know that trauma, stress, and social polarization can shrink our emotional flexibility—making life feel rigid, black-and-white, or overly serious. That’s why we gently expand your capacity to hold complexity, ambiguity, and the both/and of life. Together, we’ll practice curiosity, celebrate your joys, and find lightness when it’s needed most.

    Therapy should reflect the full range of human experience—including laughter.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Depression & Anxiety:


Choosing the Right Therapist for Anxiety & Depression


Finding the right therapist for depression or anxiety is a personal and important step in healing. While both conditions can be treated using similar approaches, everyone’s symptoms, strengths, and life experiences are different—so therapy should be tailored to fit you.


It can be difficult to open up about anxiety or depression, especially if you’ve felt misunderstood or judged in the past. That’s why it’s essential to find someone you trust. While that trust often builds over time, asking thoughtful questions early on can help you find a good fit. You might ask your therapist how much experience they have treating anxiety and depression, what modalities they use, or how they define success with clients.


You and your therapist can also define what meaningful progress looks like for you. Whether that’s feeling more energized, less overwhelmed by worry, or more connected in your relationships, having shared goals helps track your growth and guide your work together.


How Therapy Helps with Anxiety & Depression


Therapy creates a safe and structured space to better understand your inner world, challenge unhelpful patterns, and build healthier ways of coping with stress, emotions, and relationships.


Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most well-researched and effective treatments for both anxiety and depression. It focuses on the idea that current patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving are connected—and that by learning to notice and shift these patterns, we can start to feel better. This approach doesn’t dwell on unconscious childhood memories, but instead helps you take action in the here and now.


With depression, therapy can help reduce symptoms like low motivation, hopelessness, and rumination—those looping, repetitive negative thoughts that can feel impossible to escape. Modern therapies like CBT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and mindfulness-based approaches help you create space from those thoughts, develop self-compassion, and reconnect with joy and meaning.


With anxiety, therapy helps you recognize how fear and worry maintain themselves in your life. Anxiety can show up in many forms—racing thoughts, physical tension, panic attacks, perfectionism, or avoiding social situations. Anxiety can be about a fear of flying, or feeling overwhelmed by small, every-day, daily worries. CBT, like Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), teaches practical skills to interrupt the anxiety cycle and regain a sense of safety and agency. It’s not about avoiding anxiety altogether, but learning how to respond to it in ways that support your well-being.


Across both conditions, therapy is a collaborative process that empowers you to feel more balanced, connected, and in control of your life.


How Therapy Helps with Anxiety & Depression: Treating the Overlap, Not Just the Label


Anxiety and depression often go hand-in-hand. In fact, modern research shows that they co-occur more often than they appear on their own—which is why many clinicians now view them as different expressions of a shared emotional struggle, rather than two entirely separate conditions.


What this means is that instead of trying to “diagnose” one over the other, effective therapy focuses on the underlying symptoms: how you're feeling, how you're thinking, and how you're responding to stress and discomfort in daily life.


This is where Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)—and especially the Unified Protocol—shines. The Unified Protocol is a transdiagnostic treatment, meaning it doesn't just treat “anxiety” or “depression” as categories. Instead, it helps you notice and work with specific symptoms as they show up in your day-to-day life.


Some of the most common overlapping symptoms of anxiety and depression include:

  • Difficulty concentrating or feeling mentally foggy
  • Avoiding social situations or activities you once enjoyed
  • Restlessness, irritability, or a constant sense of unease
  • Fatigue and low energy that makes even small tasks feel overwhelming
  • Persistent worry combined with a sense of hopelessness or despair
  • Sleep disruption—either difficulty falling asleep or oversleeping

Therapy helps by teaching you practical tools to interrupt these cycles, understand where they come from, and respond more flexibly. Whether your symptoms feel more anxious, more depressive, or a mix of both, a symptom-focused approach like the Unified Protocol allows treatment to meet you where you are—without needing to force you into a single diagnostic category.


The Unified Protocol: A Gold-Standard, Symptom-Focused Approach to Depression, Anxiety, and Mood Disorders


The Unified Protocol (UP) is a modern, evidence-based form of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) designed to treat a wide range of emotional disorders—including depression, anxiety, panic, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and mood instability. Unlike traditional models that focus on a single diagnosis, the Unified Protocol is transdiagnostic, meaning it targets the common emotional processes that underlie many different conditions.


What makes the UP a gold-standard treatment is its strong research backing, clinical flexibility, and practical structure. It’s been shown in clinical trials to be as effective—or more effective—than disorder-specific CBT in reducing distress and improving functioning.


At the heart of the Unified Protocol is a focus on emotional symptoms—not just diagnoses. It works by helping clients:

  • Identify and understand how emotions function and why they feel overwhelming or out of control.
  • Increase awareness of emotion-driven thoughts, behaviors, and avoidance patterns.
  • Learn new skills to tolerate distress, shift cognitive distortions, and respond more effectively to uncomfortable emotions.

By focusing on emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, and behavioral change, the UP helps clients reduce symptoms across multiple domains—whether they’re struggling with chronic worry, low mood, irritability, panic attacks, or emotional reactivity.


It’s especially helpful for clients with multiple diagnoses, or those who don’t fit neatly into one category. Rather than treating “anxiety” or “depression” as isolated problems, the Unified Protocol recognizes the shared emotional challenges beneath them—and offers a unified, skills-based path forward.


Why the Unified Protocol May Be a More Inclusive Option for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ Clients


One of the most powerful aspects of the Unified Protocol (UP) is its focus on symptoms and emotional processes, rather than rigid diagnostic labels. This distinction is especially important for clients from marginalized communities, including BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals, who are often misdiagnosed or pathologized due to systemic bias in mental health care.


Historically, many psychological diagnoses have been developed and validated on narrow, non-diverse populations—often centering whiteness, cisnormativity, and heteronormativity. This has led to patterns of underdiagnosis, overdiagnosis, or misinterpretation of emotional responses that are actually understandable reactions to chronic stress, discrimination, microaggressions, or trauma.


The Unified Protocol helps bypass some of these systemic issues by:

  • Centering emotional experience rather than fitting individuals into a fixed diagnostic box.
  • Validating adaptive responses to oppression and trauma, rather than labeling them as disordered.
  • Offering culturally flexible tools that support distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and value-aligned action—without needing to explain away the impact of racism, homophobia, transphobia, or other structural forces.
  • Encouraging collaborative case conceptualization, so therapy adapts to the client’s lived reality—not a checklist of symptoms built for someone else’s experience.

By focusing on what you're feeling and how it's impacting your life, the Unified Protocol creates space for healing without reinforcing stigma. It's a compassionate and empowering model that can be especially helpful for clients navigating complex identities and systemic challenges—while still providing the structure, skills, and science-backed support to make meaningful change.


Transdiagnostic Mood Processes Impacting BIPOC & LGBTQ+ Clients


Many emotional struggles experienced by BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals are not always captured by diagnostic labels like anxiety or depression. Instead, they often stem from deeper, transdiagnostic processes—patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that cut across multiple diagnoses. These are shaped by lived experiences of marginalization, trauma, and systemic oppression, and are essential to recognize in therapy.


Below are some common transdiagnostic processes that may underlie symptoms of anxiety, depression, and mood-related distress for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ clients:

  • Rejection Sensitivity – Heightened awareness of and emotional reaction to perceived rejection, often shaped by past discrimination or exclusion.
  • Internalized Oppression – Absorbing societal stigma (e.g., racism, homophobia, transphobia) into one’s self-concept, contributing to shame and self-doubt.
  • Emotion Suppression – The habit of hiding or minimizing emotional expression in order to feel safe or accepted; linked to chronic stress and dysregulation.
  • Chronic Hypervigilance – Persistent scanning for potential threats, especially in unsafe or invalidating environments; often experienced as anxiety or exhaustion.
  • Shame and Identity Conflict – Internal conflict or shame related to one's racial, cultural, gender, or sexual identity in unsupportive or oppressive contexts.
  • Rumination & Overthinking – Repetitive, distressing thoughts focused on identity, safety, or past experiences of harm; a shared feature of anxiety and depression.
  • Perceived Burden or Responsibility – Feeling obligated to represent or educate others about one’s identity group, leading to burnout and emotional fatigue.
  • Avoidance-Based Coping – Withdrawing from situations or people to prevent pain or rejection, which can reinforce loneliness and depression.
  • Invalidation and Gaslighting – Frequent experiences of having emotions, identity, or trauma minimized or questioned, undermining emotional safety and self-trust.

Therapies like the Unified Protocol are uniquely equipped to target these processes by focusing on emotional experiences, regulation skills, and flexible coping—without relying on pathologizing or culturally biased diagnoses.

Life Transitions Can Be:

coming out / dealing with fame / getting married / transitioning / starting a new career or changing jobs / gig culture ups and downs / child leaving for college / Facing existential dread or identity loss during success / trauma / blending families / opening a relationship / buying a home / significant loss (of anything or anyone important to you) / divorce / ending difficult relationships / major lifestyle changes / health changes / Coming to terms with aging / Becoming a caregiver (for a parent, partner, or child) / Facing infertility or choosing to remain child-free / Experiencing spiritual crisis or religious deconstruction / Returning to civilian life after military service / Navigating immigration or cultural assimilation / retirement / Graduating from college or finishing school / sobriety / Facing financial upheaval or bankruptcy / online dating after a long term relationship / moving / Experiencing empty nest syndrome / Going back to school as an adult / having children / Surviving a natural disaster or community crisis / Experiencing a public scandal or reputation crisis / Living with chronic illness or disability / Starting gender-affirming medical procedures / Leaving a high-demand group or cult / accidents

Support Through Change

You don’t need to be in crisis to benefit from therapy. Many people seek psychotherapy during times of transition — moments when life is shifting, identities are evolving, or new roles are emerging. Whether you're navigating a career pivot, adjusting to parenthood, recovering from burnout, or rethinking long-held beliefs, these experiences can stir up uncertainty, stress, and emotional friction even if they don’t meet criteria for a formal diagnosis.

My approach is direct, collaborative, and evidence-based. I specialize in helping people move through transitions with clarity and grounded support — not just by listening, but by working with you to identify tools, patterns, and strengths you can actually use. Therapy can be a space for recalibration: to grieve what’s ending, name what matters, and take intentional steps forward.

You won’t find vague nods or passive check-ins here. I offer active, structured guidance rooted in research-backed modalities, tailored to where you are and what you're facing — no pathologizing, no pressure to have it all figured out.

You Don’t Need a Diagnosis to Feel Better

Not all struggles come with a label — and not all growth begins with one. You might just feel off: emotionally flat, unmotivated, disconnected from your routines or relationships. Maybe the day feels heavy for no clear reason, or you’ve lost the sense of meaning that used to guide you. This kind of diffuse distress is more common than it seems — and very treatable.

Therapy doesn’t require a diagnosis to be life-changing. Whether you're looking to restore balance, reclaim your energy, or reconnect with what matters to you, targeted psychotherapy can help you get back into rhythm. Together, we can build skills, uncover stuck patterns, and explore practical strategies that support your daily functioning, emotional steadiness, and sense of direction.

For some clients, a coaching approach works best — something more structured, goal-oriented, and advice-driven. Coaching offers a space to get unstuck, make concrete plans, and hold yourself accountable without shame. I offer both modalities, depending on what you need: space to process, tools to apply, or both. You don’t have to wait until things fall apart to get support. Sometimes it just starts with wanting to feel more like yourself again.

What if I've tried therapy before and didn't feel better?

If you’ve tried therapy before and felt it didn’t help, you’re not alone—and your hesitation makes sense. Many people invest time and energy into therapy only to leave feeling discouraged or unchanged. The truth is, not all therapy is equally effective—and not every therapist is the right fit for every person.

The fact that you’re here now suggests something important: you’re still open to the possibility of change.

Therapy is deeply personal work, and a strong, trusting relationship with your therapist is essential. If you haven’t felt safe, understood, or genuinely supported in past experiences, it’s no wonder the process felt stuck. My approach is different—grounded in clinical expertise, but also in deep human connection. I meet you where you are, with honesty, compassion, and no judgment.

Growth isn’t always comfortable. But with the right support, it becomes possible—and transformative. If you're ready to give therapy another shot, I’m here to help make it worth your time.

“I'm fine. I'll figure this out.”

People are incredibly resilient. You've gotten this far... That means so much. Many clients come to therapy after years of managing or getting through by themselves, and I am in constant awe of the capacity of people to endure difficult, stressful, and painful experiences. But avoiding emotions that feel like they can get out of control, or stress that sits in your body, comes at a cost. It doesn't just go away, it goes somewhere. It impacts us.

When was the last time you engaged in self-care and things that help you feel at peace and balanced?

Our cultural focus on individualism and self-sufficiency has placed an emphasis on personal growth and capacity, without acknowledging that not dealing with tough situations and big emotions (or dealing with them alone) will often manifest as anxiety, depression, physical pain, or disconnection from others.

You don't have to accept 'fine' as your 'normal.' Therapy helps.

No matter where you have been, evidence-based therapies focus on changing the now. I strive to help my clients experience the world mindfully and in accordance with their personal values. Through our work in cultivating an affirming, authentic, and non-judgmental therapeutic relationship, I provide support while we collaboratively deconstruct what is causing distress in your life and preventing you from being your most effective and authentic self. Individual therapy facilitates insight and growth, becoming more effective at actualizing your values, and building more authentic relationships with yourself and with others.

*Artwork by Ingrid Solano

Trauma-Focused therapy


Understanding and Treating PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop after experiencing or witnessing something overwhelming, threatening, or deeply distressing. Symptoms can include flashbacks, nightmares, emotional numbness, hypervigilance, or feeling disconnected from yourself and others. These reactions are not personal weaknesses—they are your nervous system’s way of trying to protect you after trauma.

Therapy for PTSD focuses on helping you reclaim safety, restore agency, and reconnect with life after trauma. This may include approaches like trauma-focused CBT (like Cognitive Processing Therapy or Prolonged Exposure), narrative therapy, or somatic practices that help regulate the body’s response to stress.

Healing from trauma is not about forgetting what happened—it’s about reducing its ongoing impact and building the capacity to live with more calm, confidence, and connection. In a supportive therapeutic space, you can begin to integrate your experiences, strengthen your internal resources, and move forward without trauma defining your story.


Trauma is experienced differently by everyone...

You may notice psychological, emotional, or even physical changes. You may have nightmares or flashbacks, or be unable to get a good night’s sleep. You may feel anxious one day, depressed the next. You may feel out of control while doing things you never did before or while engaged in your daily normal routine. You may constantly feel like you are in danger. You may be constantly irritable with loved ones or coworkers. You may be easy to anger, and it feels explosive and out of control. You may be a super-problem solver, needing to know what happens next at all times and be prepared for everything-- even knowing where every object/belonging is precisely in your home.

Trauma occurs in many different ways...

Trauma can occur as a car accident, an assault, a natural disaster, a loss... Trauma from stigma, prejudice, and discrimination can be a constant threat to expressing your authentic self. Trauma can be compounded by having to work with, serve with, or live with a perpetrator every day... Trauma can be any experience that was too much, too fast, or too soon without the support afterward or enough time to process what just happened.

Trauma focused therapy is collaborative...

Trauma therapy isn’t so much about talking about the experience and details of your trauma, as it is about understanding the impact it has had on you and your life, and how you can resolve any difficulties these may have caused for you. Some speak about their experiences in detail, some don’t. I practice evidence-based trauma-focused therapies that have been shown to be effective and short term (~12 weeks). My goals, in addition to yours, include helping you to relieve your distress, develop skills, use those skills effectively, and increase your insight. After that, I am available for check-ins and refresher sessions if needed. Some enjoy continued support, while others have specific goals that indicate to them that they are done with therapy.

Trauma focused therapy is unique to you...

We also don't have to dive right in. Engaging in trauma-focused therapy can be a goal, too. I have worked with many diverse individuals who have experienced sexual assault or an unwanted sexual experience recently, or in their past. Sexual violence is pervasive, but still not spoken about openly. And... if you are unable to tell anyone, it’s hard to find help and support. These obstacles and stuck points can come from ourselves, our relationships, our communities, and society. I strive to help you overcome intrusive thoughts and behavioral/habitual obstacles, and help you chart your own path to wholeistic well-being and balance. I can help you understand the impact of traumatic experiences, and help you gain the skills to find resiliance and healing. We can start with feelings of anxiety, depression, or relationship concerns first, in a trauma-informed way.

Adolescents and Young Adults


It's hard to feel understood: by peers, by parents, by anyone. These times of our lives can bring feelings of confusion and discouragement. ‘Adulting’ can feel overwhelming. Expectations have grown exponentially, and guidance has become limited. Feeling anxious, depressed, scared, incapable or lost are struggles that therapy can help you sort through. You should be able to feel confident in yourself and abilities, and know that you can manage.

With years of experience working with teens and young adults, I offer a space where you’ll feel heard, respected, and never judged. My approach is relatable, down-to-earth, and rooted in clinical expertise. I've been told that I am easy to talk to, and a bit savvier than your average adult. Together, we’ll work through what’s holding you back, build confidence, and help you feel more capable of handling whatever life throws your way.